Martin Barabas | Through the Shattered Lens

I’m going to guess that there’s quite a backstory to the production of the film …. well, I’m really not even sure what to call the film.

The version that I just watched on Tubi was called 69 parts and it clocked in at a little over 90 minutes. It’s the story of gangsters, cops, and one hapless law student in 1979 New York. Jack (Ryan O’Callaghan) needs money to go to law school. His best friend, gambling addict Gino (Johnny Solo), arranges for Jack to get a loan from his uncle, Dennis (Aidan Redmond). However, Gino swears that he can double the loan if Jack goes with him to the tracks. Unfortunately, Gino’s hot tip turns out to be a bust so now Jack is broke and can’t pay back the money. So, Dennis forced Jack to marry Dennis’s mistress so that she can get her green card but then Dennis gets jealous and decides to kill Jack but then he discovers that Jack is the son of an imprisoned criminal associate (Eric Roberts). It’s all a bit too complicated for its own good and the use of multiple narrators, many of whom sound exactly alike, doesn’t make the film any easier to follow.

Tubi claims that 69 Parts was released in 2022. However, on the IMDb, there’s a film called 79 Parts, which is listed as being a few minutes shorter than 69 Parts but it has the exact same cast and the exact same plot. This version was released in 2016, six years before 69 Parts. And then there’s 79 Parts: The Directors Cut, which clocks in at over two hours and which was released in 2019. In short, there appears to be multiple versions of this film and really, I have to be a little bit impressed by the determination necessary to keep re-editing, re-titling, and re-releasing the film.

As for the film itself, the version I saw was a bit too busy and difficult to follow but I appreciated the work that went into recreating the 70s. That obviously take some effort. Aidan Redmond was properly avuncular and menacing as Dennis but Jack was such a wimpy character that it was difficult to really care about him. As for Eric Roberts, he appears for about five minutes and is even less impressed with Jack than I was. Maybe Eric gets to do more in the director’s cut.

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:

Oh, screw this.

About fifty minutes into this movie, an adorable calico kitty cat is killed for no good reason. We’re not supposed to care because the cat belonged to an annoying neighbor, the cat had a silly name (Mr. Nibbles, though considering that the cat’s a calico, it really should have been named Ms. Nibbles), and the cat was trespassing in the main character’s house. But, to tell you the truth, I’ve had it with movies that feature animals being killed for nothing more than shock value. Don’t get me wrong. I know that cat wasn’t really killed and the cat’s owner probably got paid for her services but I’ve seen so many movies with so many dead pets that it just feels lazy at this point.

As for the rest of the film, it tells the story of Emma (Katia Winter) and her daughter, Isla (Leya Catlett). Emma, a recovering alcoholic and a recent widow, has recently gotten custody of Isla. They live in a gigantic house, one that I’m not sure how Emma affords on her salary as a waitress. While Emma tries to bond with the uncommunicative Isla, strange things start to happen around the house. Doors seem to open and close on their own. The home security system keeps going off. Things keep disappearing. People keep disappearing. Isla starts to talk about “the lost ghost” who apparently lives in her closet. Isla explains that the lost ghost is “always here” and he’s always watching Emma. Along with the ghost, Emma is haunted by memories of her past and an obsessive stalker who keeps showing up at inopportune moments.

You’re Not Alone actually gets off to a good start. Haunted house films are almost always effective because everyone can relate to them. We’ve all had the experience of lying in bed and wondering if someone is wandering around outside or if the sounds are just in our imagination. You don’t even have to live in a house to have that fear. Even when you’re living in an apartment, things get creepy once you turn out the lights, Katia Winter gives a good and sympathetic performance as Emma and you’re on her side from the minute you see her having to deal with a snooty woman at the custody hearing. The early scenes of Emma trying to keep calm and do her best even while her life seems to be falling apart are the best in the film.

But You’re Not Alone loses its way as it continues. The cat dies. A visit to a church feels like it was lifted from a hundred other horror films. Emma’s best friend disappears in the closet but Emma never seems to notice her absence and Isla, who witnessed the disappearance, never mentions it to her. A bunch of flies invade the house because someone’s seen The Amityville Horror. The film commits the unpardonable sin of getting boring and a sudden twist ending can’t change that fact.

Call it the Curse of Mr. Nibbles. Kill the cat and your film falls apart.